IA: The War Angels

[Tiberius Cato]

Hail Brothers!

I present you with another chapter (which I have a few going right now ) that I had been working on for a while now.

I recently introduced myself on the Dark Angels Sub (sub?) forum and would like to cast my chapter into the crucible of war alongside my many new brethren amongst the members of the I legion and it's successors. So with out further adieux, I present thee:

The War Angels

http://i.imgur.com/tdkmmls.jpg

Brother Ennaiel 4th Company, 8th Assault Squad

[clearfloat][/clearfloat]

Origins of the War Angels

The War Angels are a descendant chapter of the Dark Angels. It is unknown which founding they hail from, but the earliest records of their actions was during M35. It is unknown if the War Angels descended directly from the Dark Angels or one of their other descendant chapters. As such the training cadre assigned to the War Angels was a small squad of Blood Angels assault marines, mainly due to the proximity of the War Angels capital ship to Baal; this was done as to not stretch the valuable assets of Astartes to thin. The newly formed chapter had been greatly influenced by their mentor, adopting much of their iconography and chapter culture as a sign of respect.

The chapter is fleet based, operation from their flagship the "Relentless Onslaught". They have participated in a campaign against an Ork Waaagh! known as Waagh! Oomystompa alongisde forces of the Astra Militarum. The War Angels have also come to the defence of a shrine world against the forces of Chaos, the event is now known as the Siege of Dalanar.

Librarium Note: It is worth noting that the chaos forces were under the leadership of a member of the Fallen. Third company captain Madriel of the 18th chapter of the glorious First legion. Madriel was captured and now awaits interrogation on The Rock.

At some point during M35 the War Angels had claimed the snowy world of Nivira as the recruitment world. The following millenium was of relative quiet for the War Angels, consisting only of erecting their illustrious fortress-monastery. The next millenium however, had brought constant attacks by Ork forces on Nivira. It was shortly found out afterwards this was the precursor of Waaagh! Oomystompa. The War Angels had been locked in conflict with the Orks for the better half of a decade. The chapter had finally set about fending off the incursion and set about creating a planetary defence force in the event the Orks came back with a vengeance and the Angels were absent. This battle had sent the chapter in a brief period of reconstruction, having lost a total of 59 battle-brothers.

Homeworld

The world Nivira is a planet covered in frozen oceans and snow. It had first been settled by the Imperium during the Great Crusade, but was lost to the Ruinous powers during the event's of Horus' Heresy. Shortly after the Emperor's interment in the Golden Throne the world had been reclaimed by Imperial forces from a cult devoted to Khorne, the blood god. After it was claimed by the War Angels it was assaulted by Ork forces, after the War Angels defeated them planetary defence forces set about finding and destroying remaining Ork spores, a chore they still must perform to this day.

Organization

The War Angels follow the organisation of their Unforgiven brethren with one main exception. There exist a third veteran company, devoted to drop pod and jump infantry assaults known as the Bloodwing. The remainder of the Companies follow Codex Astartes dictates. The 4th,5th, and 6th companies act as battle companies, the 7th, 8th, and 9th are reserve companies, and the 10th company is composed of the chapter's neophyte scouts.

Librarium Note: The War Angels maintain an inner circle like all Unforgiven chapters made up of the Grand Master, Company Masters, Masters of the Deathwing, Ravenwing, and Bloodwing, Librarians, and interrogator-chaplains.

Combat Doctrine

The chapter displays an intense preference for bloody close combat. They have been noted as giving up favorable positions due to being overcome by bloodlust to tear their enemies asunder. It has beend seenthat a War Angels bloodlust can become lesser as he ages, which may see him promoted to a leadership position where he will command disciplined gunlines from the rear. However, those who still maintain a bloodlust will be promoted into the chapter's Bloodwing if deemed worthy of the honour. Generally, the chapter deploys with a mixed force of mid range and close combat squads. The close combat squads primarily deploy as jump infantry, but are also known to deploy via drop pod.

Geneseed

The War Angels geneseed comes from an unknown predecessor. It has experienced a minor mutation that creates a hormonal imbalance in battle-brothers that causes them to be periodically overcome by a blood fury in the midst of combat.

Recruitment

The recruitment pool of the chapter is composed entirely of voluntary aspirants. Each generation, thousands of aspirants brave the frozen wastelands of Nivera to emabark on a journey to the War Angels gladitorial arena. Aspirants that survive the journey are then prepared to participate in a tournament that will pit them against eachother in battles to the death. The top twenty-five aspirants are then inducted into the chapter to begin their training as Astartes.

Beliefs

The chapter view the Emperor of Mankind as a diety descended from the heavens to wage war across the stars. They believe the one day he will rise from his golden throne to usher in a new era of war, with epic proportions yet to be seen in the galaxy.

The War Angels also abhor nonhumans and abhumans, they have withdrawn on multiple occasions from campaigns where they would have had to work alongside mutants or xenos forces.

That's all I got for now folks. Comments, criticism, and concerns are all welcome here!

[Bjorn Firewalker]

I like the fluff, but some clarification is mandatory. The Dark Angels are notoriously paranoid, so why would they allow Blood Angels to serve as training cadre for one of their successor Chapters? This would risk revealing too many of the Dark Angels' secrets, e.g., the existence of the Fallen, to outsiders.

Did the Administratum up BIG TIME when they authorized the War Angels' founding, and mistake Dark Angel gene-seed for that of the Blood Angels? Were the Dark Angels who were supposed to serve as the War Angels' training cadre, targeted and killed in an enemy attack (ordered by Madriel, a radical Inquisitor, or a radical Inquisitor in league with Madriel) before they could rendezvous with their charges, and in desperation, the War Angels' founding Chapter Master asked a favor of the Blood Angels?

Why do the War Angels exhibit mutations unseen in any of Lion El'Jonson's other sons- mutations commonly seen in Sanguinius' sons? Did the Blood Angels who served as the Chapter's training cadre, forget they were training a Dark Angels successor Chapter, and handled the gene-seed the way they would their own? Was Blood Angel gene-seed mixed in with the Dark Angels, e.g., because of the Administratum up that I mentioned, or because the War Angels' founding Chapter Master STOLE Blood Angels gene-seed so he could stand up the new Chapter faster than is typical? Why was such a massive up allowed to happen?

[JeffJedi]

I like it so far and I agree that it looks like the Geneseed has been tainted in some way. The Blood Angels handling the geneseed like a BA successor is a perfect addition.

[Tiberius Cato]

I like the idea of the original unforgiven training cadre being killed off by Madriel, and as a result he chapter master of the War Angels requesting assistance from the Blood Angels in training their men. As for the mutation, perhaps it's the result of inquisitorial intereference. I'd prefer not to use that deus ex machina though. So, maybe there was sanguinary priest in the training cadre who had mishandled the progenoid of the War Angels and had somehow mixed BA and WA geneseed. Other possible reasons I can think of off the top of my head is maybe a small portion of the original recruits had been accidently implanted with Blood Angels geneseed due to an administrative error by the Administratum (which means there could exist a BA descendant with som DA geneseed out there if this is possible) and unknowingly the War Angels geneseed begins to mutate as a result of being mixed with some BA geneseed.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

The most logical explanation I can think of for handling Dark Angels gene-seed the same way as Blood Angels gene-seed, is that the "radical Inquisitor in league with Madriel" wanted his own Death Company- in his mind, an ideal personal army- but because access to Blood Angels gene-seed is heavily restricted, he decided to... "experiment."

 

When the War Angels training cadre learn of this- and they WILL learn of this, as the resulting mutations cannot be ignored- the Blood Angels and Dark Angels will join forces to punish the radical Inquisitor for insulting their Primarchs.

[Tiberius Cato]

So here's what I'm thinking: prior to the War Angels founding, a radical inquisitor decides he wants to create a force of Astartes to serve his renegade lord. After the founding is commissioned he arranges for his lord Madriel to obtain Blood Angel geneseed for their experiments. Madriel enlist a warband or two to assist him with promises of blood and glory and they assault a Blood Angel's assault cruiser. Madriel let's the warbands make initial contact and swoops in with his retinue and grab what little geneseed they can and leave the renegades to die, with know one left to no of his existence. Once the inquistor recieves the geneseed he begins experiment with the stock to be used for the War Angels.

 

She finally creates a sample that is functional and test the implant. It displays the rage of the Blood Angels, but not to the same extant. The rage culminates in an intense craving for blood and is sated upon consumption. The inquisitr reports her progress to Madriel and they use this product for the Astartes they will create.

 

After the founding goes through Madriel begins further interference with the fledgling chapter. He has his inquisitor peon contact the Assassinorum and order the assassination of the Dark Angels training cadre assigned to the War Angels. After, the inquistor then contacts Baal, which coincidently is the closest planet to the War Angels fleet, and describes the misfortune that befell the War Angels. He pleads for them to send a small retinue to train the new chapter and the Blood Angels agree.

 

This cultivates a close bond between the two chapters. As the Blood Angels mentor the War Angelsthe latter develops a better understanding of their flaw, thinking it was a gift from the Emperor.

 

Azrael contacts Grand Master Balael and warns him of treachery. He reveals the existence of Madriel and his works in the chapter's founding. The War Angels swear an oath of vengeance and devise a plan to capture the Fallen mastermind.

+++++++++++

 

And that's all I got for now, I can't think of a suitable means for the War Angels to bait Madriel and capture him.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Clarification: Is the radical Inquisitor male or female? You use describe this individual as "he" in the first and third paragraphs, and "she" in the second.

 

I presume Madriel and the radical Inquisitor implanted hypnotic orders into the War Angels to make them obey their every command. It will be touching if, when the traitors try to use the hypnotic orders at the moment it will do most harm- when the War Angels are fighting beside their brothers in the Blood and Dark Angels, a united front against Madriel and his war band- their loyalty to the Emperor and their gene-father (Sanguinius or Lion El'Jonson?) allows the War Angels to resist the traitors' command to kill their brothers in the Blood and Dark Angels. It will be most satisfying to see the traitors' faces when they realize their "puppets" have cut their strings, and are joining forces with their worst enemies to bring justice and vengeance to them.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Considering the instability of Blood Angels gene-seed, you might as well give the War Angels two additional scout companies. The Exorcists get away with this- they have 12 companies in total- for the same reason. (Eleven is the sacred number of Malal or "Malice," and should be avoided for this reason.)

[incinerator950]

That's like saying Razorbacks shouldn't have a six man capacity for Slaanesh.

 

Not only that, Malal is a lesser known God that only the Ordo Malleus would know about. It's irrelevant to have arbitrary numbers when Chaos players stopped using them years ago.

[Tiberius Cato]

I intend to have the inquisitor as a she, the damned s key on my phone keyboard is going out. I just realised I wrote into existance a chapter with two genesires, strange. I like the idea of the Wa Angels being initially hypnotised and then eventually cutting the strings from their puppet masters because of their loyalty to the sons of the Lion and the sons of Sanguinius. Perhaps this event could be the Siege of Dalanar. Madriel planned to destroy Dalanar and erect a temple to his chosen diety (or self) to bring meat shie.... I mean cultist and traitor guard under his banner alongside what would've been an entire chapter founded for the express purpose of heresy.

[Teetengee]

I still use arbitrary numbers....

I am curious as to why the War Angels have structure/culture like the Dark Angels. I would figure that they would be organized much like the Blood Angels but without the same drawbacks/advantages and with stronger ties to the Dark Angels as they are the true geneline. However, I would think they would find it strange why they are not allowed to close to the Dark Angels, unlike their other brother chapters.

[incinerator950]

How do you get an Inquisitor to sign off to the High Lords to create a Chapter?

 

One of DA descent no less. Another thing is, mixing and contaminating Geneseed is so controversial, a screw up would be noticeable. Next, why are they in proximity to Baal? As I understand it, they would have Dark Angels or their successors train them.

 

One last thing, you can't dilute the geneseed flaws of the BA. The farthest they've gotten was the Lamenters, and they're mia with reputably terrible, destructive luck.

[Teetengee]

I am willing to buy the lessened flaws (as it sounds like they don't get any benefits) because they are not of blood angel descent.

[incinerator950]

True, but I don't like the mafical Inquisitorial handwave.

[Tiberius Cato]

I don't like the Deus Ex Machina either, I'm open to suggestions for a better way of it occurring. Perhaps providing a means to elaborate on a screw up by the Administratum idea I had in one of my earlier post.

[Teetengee]

I think I would like it better if the administratum created the chapter in the hopes of using them to learn a little about both the blood angels and the dark angels. Unfortunately I think that would probably backfire and either create Dark Angels firmly entrenched in Blood Angel culture or a chapter that is outcastes to both. I don't think an inquisitor needs to enter this story (and believe it is probably best that they don't) which will create less need for suspension of disbelief. An important note to keep in mind (I forget who said it, maybe poe) about fiction in general is that it should follow logically from its premise. A large amount of coincidence and other plot shenanigans is acceptable in setting up a story, but once the setup is complete, no new such nonsense should be added nor removed or it will break emersion. The setup roughly corresponds to the obvious aspects of the IA, the bits that are common knowledge and that come out in the first few paragraphs that detail nonstandard aspects of the chapter, as that is where we really start reading.

[Tiberius Cato]

Initially I wanted a Dark Angels chapter with heavy Blood Angels influences. I also orignally had them being a bit black sheep-ish because they outright try to kill Fallen rather than capture them for questioning.

 

It could be entirely possible that their mutation brands them as mutants in the eyes of their Unforgiven brethren, and thus being shunned. They then turn to their other genesire and are warmly welcomed by the Blood Angels becuase they believe the War Angels to be a step towards vanquishing their curse.

 

If it sounds too out there I apologise, i'm running off less than 4 hours of sleep and probably don't have the most logical of thought processes atm.

[incinerator950]

Logic isn't allowed... oh wait, you're not at my job.